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Thursday, February 13, 2014

When a mom decided to throw a birthday party for her son's 11th birthday he said not to bother. Colin has a disease similar to Asperger's Syndrome and has no friends in school. It is so bad that he eats his lunch in the school office each day because no kids want to eat with him. His mom decided to do something and created a Facebook page 11 days ago. It now has over a million likes and hundreds of birthday cards pour into a mailbox set up for the birthday. So far it is still a surprise. If you would like to send a birthday card to Colin his address is:

I'm going to send him some cast photos, autographs, and DVD, of the series I was recently in (cancelled after one season, but who cares!). That will either cheer him up or leave him wondering who the unfamiliar people with the strange accents are ;-)

Thanks Enty! I really appreciate your email back and posting this story - I don't know the family, or Colin, but love the story and the good in it. I hope all of our CDAN community can contribute a Happy Birthday message for this little kid.

I already posted and sent a card. I, also, shared the link on a FB page I run because I have several nieces/nephews/cousins on the Autism Spectrum plus a sister with Asperger's. I know how hard it is for them to be social and make friends. Plus, the part where he eats alone at lunch breaks my heart.

I'm concerned about how no kids want to eat with him. Surely there has to be a better way to integrate him into class activities than having him eat in the office. Years ago I worked at a public school with a large number of special needs children. We had an "inclusion" model, which meant that most school activities were adapted to include everyone. Maybe he feels uncomfortable in the lunch room, but the thought of him eating alone is heartbreaking.

When my brother turned 13, his Tourette Syndrome kicked in, and he lost all of his friends. He was constantly picked on and made fun of. No one knew what it was at the time, and my other siblings, even my parents, thought he was being a deviant, so he was constantly punished. He wasn't being a deviant though...he couldn't help or control it. Even the teachers were cruel to him. One even put him in a closet in 8th grade (yes the teacher got in trouble). He was very depressed throughout junior high and high school, and even wanted to commit suicide. He's so handsome, yet couldn't get a girlfriend because of it.

He's now an adult, he still has some of the symptoms...but it's not as bad. He is now happily married and his wife is very understanding of his situation.

Card will be posted as soon as I leave. It's wonderful his Mum thought of this. Hard enough to have anything health related to deal with as a child; the burdens placed upon their shoulders by others is painful to bear. Disease is a 'disorder of structure or function', IMO this is an important side topic, because much fear of a person with any disease (or disorder) arises from people who only perceive a disease as something you "catch" and therefore can "get". I have an autoimmune disease, I get both points of view about terminology. I had to explain over and over again (to classmates, teachers, parents) that not all diseases are contagious, when the last thing a kid wants is to be defined by their medical condition. Colin is an truly inspiring young man, and his Mother defines that title, for me. :))

Shared this story last night with my 9yr old daughter. I can attest to the awesomeness of CDANers. 2 Christmases ago a lot of commenters made my little girls Christmas spectacular! It was the greatest outpouring of kindness that I have ever encountered....and I have never met a single person. Thank you all!

The other parents at that school should hear this & have frank talks with their kids about excluding people. I've already threatened my little ones of I ever get wind that they are mean or dismissive or bullying! Basically, my kids are not allowed to act like what has become "normal."

@TV Junkie-I agree. We can't like everybody, but we should teach our kids to be respectful of each other. My daughter is in a class with very sweet girls (3rd grade). I met one of the moms for the first time and she hugged me and said that she hopes they all can stay like this through high school.

It's really a sad story, she asked her son what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said it didn't really matter cause he doesn't have any friends. My heart breaks for them both. I hope people have lifted both of their spirits with an outpouring of kindness.

@Headrot: This little one is special because people want to make it so. Everyone should be afforded the same kindness when asked. Spending 2 minutes to give a lonely child a card does wonders for the soul.

That being said I ain't got time to post for that little shit, I'm working!

Will send a card today from Sydney, Australia. My son (adopted at age 7) has socialization issues too through a very tough start to life with drug addicts and foster homes. It can be heartbreaking to see them struggle to make friends and get ostracized. I think Colin is going to have a very memorable birthday, well done to his mum!

i love this story. i am going to use this as a way to explain to my kids about bullying and how to treat people and we will make him personalized birthday cards and send them to him. This is a great open talk experience with your children. great way to introduce bullying and different syndromes and how other kids make other kids feel. im very proud of that mom. she is a very awesome lady and i hope her son never forgets his birthday. i think the saddest thing of course is him eating alone but also how when his mom asked him if he wanted a birthday party and he said dont bother. heartbreaking. everyone needs to show him how important he is as a human being and he is a human being. and now he has freinds all over the world to keep in touch with when feeling alone,

As an Aspie myself I would say the best option would be for his mother to try and find him support groups for kids on the spectrum. If there are none locally maybe she can find an online group for him. It might make him feel less alone.

I agree people should teach their children to respect other children. They shouldn't push them to be overly friendly though. Aspies can spot fakers. People think we can't but we can.

I don't know my son has cystic fibrosis which the trust itself describes as a progressive, non curable genetic disease. I think any implication is in the readers understanding not the writers intention.

If this is true, the teachers should be ashamed of themselves for letting such a school society develop, and let a student of theirs eat continuously alone and be neglected by others. And by not interfereing, the teachers APPROVING OF the others turning their back to one.

THIS is how they inhale that discriminating one person, who is strange to me, is TOTS ok.

where i live someone did something similar for their parents with Alzhemiers - they had always sent Christmas cards and loved receiving them. Both are now in a nursing home so the son put it out on social media and over 10000 cards were sent to his parents......and we're in a fairly small place so that was pretty awesome.

My 3yo daughter was born with a cleft lip and palate that has now been repaired. She still has scars, a uneven top lip and a gap in her gum. She will require more ops and dental work up until she is in her teenage years. She is the most beautiful and caring little girl, but I am so terrified of what school will be like for her. Kids can be cruel :(

I read abt this a few days ago on fb and got to post a msg for him. Made me wanna cry thinking about him eating alone and not having friends. How sad! I hope this sweet little boy has a wonderful birthday.

I think what this ,o, did is wonderful. When I first read about it last week all I could think of was the Southpark episode with Kip Drordy.It is a shame that the school never encouraged other kids to interact with him. My heart goes out to kids like Colin.

@HaverchuckI can tell you are a loving Mom who adores her daughter. We can't protect them all the time, but we can give them the tools to be self-assured and let them know they can talk to us about anything and everything. Best of luck to you and your little princess :)

This made me remember my childhood, i was horribly shy and my homelife was full of physical and verbal abuse, and because of that i was scared to talk to anything, so at school i was either bullied or left alone. I will never forget crying day after day in the school toilet because i felt completely alone in the world.

No child should feel that way, i hope this gives him such a great kickstart:)

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